The 'Special Relationship' Between J. R. D. Tata And The Indian Air Force

At first glance, there seems no connection between the Indian Air Force and JRD Tata, a civilian pilot who founded Air India.

JRD Tata | Wikipedia

But there is a deep and long-lasting connection, with both happy and sad events.

In 1929, to encourage flying in India, Prince Aga Khan offered a prize of 500 British Pounds (equivalent to over 8 Lakh Rupees now) to the first Indian to fly solo between England and India, either eastward or westward, in a month.

One full month? You ask? Yes, when you travelled by your favourite airline, it took only 8 hours.

Remember, this was 9 decades ago, when airplanes were small, slow and prone to frequent failures. Also, there were no ground-based radars or any other navigation equipment to guide you. So, in addition to being an expert pilot, one had to be an excellent navigator, an amateur engineer, a reasonable meteorologist, a daring adventurer and obviously very wealthy, to even try it.

Before modern navigation systems and highly reliable airplanes became available, in an airliner¡¯s cockpit it was common to see the Captain, the Co-pilot, the Navigator and the Flight Engineer and of course the Autopilot!

If you have tried driving in a strange place without Google Maps, GPS and signboards, multiply your difficulty tenfold and you¡¯ll understand the complications of navigating when there¡¯s no road to follow, when the only instrument showing you directions, the magnetic compass, is hardly accurate, when unseen winds push you off track without you even knowing it and when storms, clouds, rain and fog make it impossible to see the ground.

Three young men rose to the challenge. Manmohan Singh persisted despite two failures, and made it across in his third attempt, but he took a day more than a month. He stood third in the race.

JRD, while flying from Karachi, via Basra, Gaza, Cairo, Tripoli, Naples, Rome, Marseilles, and Paris to Croydon in England, landed at Aboukir near Cairo in Egypt.

There, he met Aspy Engineer, his competitor, who was flying in the opposite direction, from England to India. But Aspy was stuck because of engine trouble and needed a new spark plug.

World map in 1930 showing JRD Tata¡¯s flight route. | Credit: Reddit

Imagine, you¡¯re midway through a contest, a dangerous yet prestigious race for being the first among millions of Indians to do something special. You meet your only competitor who is grounded, awaiting the delivery of a spark plug, which could take weeks. What would you do?

On the other hand, imagine, you¡¯re stranded, for God knows how long, and your only competitor seems happily on his way to England. But he has yet to cross the Mediterranean Sea that you already have, which is a dangerous flight in a single-engine plane. What would you do?

JRD gifted Aspy his spare spark plug and Aspy gave a return gift of his life vest to JRD.

Both flew off in opposite directions and both made it to their destinations, Aspy beating JRD by just a few hours.

Aspy was only 18 years old, and JRD was 26. Fathom the immense maturity displayed by both.

No wonder JRD went on to become what we all know and, what¡¯s lesser known is, Aspy joined the IAF and rose to be its second Indian Chief.

JRD Tata | Twitter

That was JRD¡¯s first brush with the future IAF, which was yet to be born then. (To read about the beginnings of the IAF, click here.)

The second interaction, however, wasn¡¯t happy.

In Nov 1960, Air India operated its first ¡®proving¡¯ flight to Japan. JRD had invited a few friends and dignitaries to travel on that flight, which included Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, the Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force.

On 8th November, while dining at a restaurant in Tokyo, Mukerjee, the senior-most IAF Officer with many firsts to his credit, choked on a piece of food, and before a doctor could arrive, passed away. That was a tremendous shock to India, the IAF and JRD.

Who succeeded him? Air Marshal Aspy Engineer, whom JRD had gifted a spark plug.

The third and the subsequent interactions between JRD and the IAF were happy indeed.

In 1948, in recognition of his service to Indian aviation, the IAF conferred the honorary rank of Group Captain on JRD.

Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh, with Honorary Air Commodore JRD Tata in 1966 | Credit: Tata group

In 1966, the IAF ¡®promoted¡¯ him to Air Commodore rank and again in 1974, he was granted the next honorary promotion to the rank of Air Vice Marshal.

That¡¯s how fellow aviators, irrespective of whether they were military or civilian, respected each other.

Later, even after JRD was forced to leave the Chairmanship of Air India, whenever Air India required pilots urgently, IAF seconded them, and they served Air India with distinction for decades.

I met one of them recently, who at 78, is still working as a Simulator Instructor.

That reminded me of JRD in 1982, at the age of 78, repeating his first airmail flight on its 50th anniversary. I¡¯m awed and impressed by his feat, but not surprised.

JRD Tata | Tata Group

As the famous saying goes, ¡°Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.¡±

The writer is a former fighter pilot of the IAF and now a commercial airline pilot. He is the author of two books and many blog posts, available at www.avinashchikte.com